From A Single Echo
by Nuclear Eggs
Summary: Luka is a doctor who moves to a reclusive mountain village where even the slightest threat of sound could bring an avalanche. It is here where she meets Miku, but not everything is as it seems. Miku/Luka
1. Chapter 1

"What god did you displease," asked the guard, "to be given a post in the village of Kikuo?"

Snow fell in drifts, chilling Luka to the bone. At this height, the valley below was nearly invisible, covered by a thick mist. The guard spat to the side as he glanced through the paperwork.

"Folks who live in Kikuo are a strange lot, I tell you," he continued, shaking his head. "A pity you're assigned there. How long?"

"Five years," said Luka. "The old doctor died. I am to train his successor. The old doctor was a family friend of my mentor, so."

The guard grunted. "This village doesn't need a _doctor_, it needs an avalanche." He finished looking through the paperwork and handed it to Luka. "I don't know how it is out there," he nodded out in the direction of the rest of the world, "but Kikuo is different."

Luka knew. Kikuo had a reputation, even outside of the snow country. According to the stories, children grew up gagged and farm animals had their vocal cords cut. The slightest noise, it was said, could cause an avalanche. The only places where the villagers could make merry were small mountain nodes, quirks of nature where sounds are cancelled out by their own echos. Everywhere else, there could only be silence.

_Rumors,_ thought Luka, _can be exaggerated..._

The guard called for the gate to be opened. It did so with a groaning, laborious creak. Before her, wooden gates drawing aside, Luka saw crudely cut steps winding up and around the mountain.

_...but each rumor has a grain of truth._

"Well then," said the guard. "The village is a sharp climb up from here. There will be a guide halfway. And...Ms. Megurine, is it?"

"Yes."

The guard nodded, a glint of pity in his dark eyes. "Be careful."

-o-o-o-

Snow blurred the edges of the trees, tall and spindly etches against a sky as white as the ground. A branch snapped under Luka's clumsy steps. The wind howled, snow crunched. The steps had long since faded away, replaced by a rough trail.

How far was halfway? It felt as though Luka had been walking for hours. She shivered; she could no longer feel her nose. Up ahead on the sloping mountain she saw nothing save more dead trees.

Another step forward, then a shape appeared, dark and blurred. Luka squinted. The shape became clearer - a young man, standing so still he may well be a statue. Luka took a step, then another, until she reached the man. Before she could speak, he bowed quickly and began to talk in a voice so quiet Luka could barely hear him over the wind's howl. "You are the doctor? Megurine Luka?"

"I am. Are you the guide?"

The man nodded. "Correct. I am your guide to Kikuo. I will also be your student for the next five years. You were acquainted with the old doctor, rest his soul? Odd for the old man to know a woman so young, but-"

"I...no, my mentor was. This is to be my first official post as a doctor, for the time being."

The young man's voice held a note of unpleasant surprise. "You mean to say that you have no prior experience?"

The wind's blowing grew stronger. The snow was so thick Luka could hardly see the world beyond a narrow column of two feet.

"I have enough experience," Luka replied. She braced herself for an incoming gust of wind. "What is the name of my future student?"

The young man's expression had cooled significantly. Flakes of snow covered his blue hair; he gave them no notice. "Shion Kaito. Please follow me, Ms. Megurine, and from now on, we must be quiet. The mountain is not forgiving."

-o-o-o-

The village was completely silent when Luka and Kaito reached it. Thick, windowless buildings squatted close to the ground, as though afraid the wind would blow them away. Thick icicles hung from eaves. The ground was a pure, untouched white. It felt as though the village was holding its breath; a town of ghosts.

Kaito bowed once more, swept his hand out to indicate that they have arrived, and pointed to the largest building, its wooden screens stained by countless winters. Then, without a word, he left in the direction of a closely clustered group of ramshackle cabins.

This was, Luka saw, not a rich village. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself and walked over to the building Kaito indicated. She went up worn wooden steps, hesitated at the old-fashioned sliding door. Should she knock? The complete silence of the village pressed in around her. Breaking it would have felt profane; the village was like a slice of time from a generation ago, perfectly preserved by ice.

The door slid open before Luka could knock and another young man peered out, his hair and eyes a deep teal. Upon seeing Luka, he smiled and bowed a brief greeting that Luka hastened to return. He gave a meaningful glance outside before beckoning her in.

Once inside, the door closed, the young man started talking. "So, you are to be our doctor for the next few years! This is very exciting. How was the walk up? I hope it was not too difficult."

Taken off-guard by the sudden boisterousness, Luka managed only a stammered no.

"Excellent," said the man. "It has been a while since we've received new residents in Kikuo. There will be dinner soon; I trust you are famished after your no doubt arduous journey."

The interior of the building, Luka noted, was large and closed off to the outside by heavy wood. Noise could not escape. She felt herself relax. As long as silence did not have to be observed at all times, she could manage. "Thank you for your generosity. Although," Luka hesitated and put on her most polite language, "might I ask, to whom it is I am speaking...?"

The young man laughed. "Oh, my apologies! I must have let my excitement get the better of me. I am Lord Hatsune Mikuo."

Lord? At this age? Hatsune's face was so youthful Luka doubted that he was much older than she. "I...I see."

Hatsune chuckled. "You are surprised? I regret to say that my father, rest his soul, took ill after the former doctor Kagamine. Without the doctor's estimable skills, however, he was lost. I pray his spirit is at rest."

A twang of memory at the name Kagamine. Her mentor had mentioned the very same name many times before - an old friend, a widower who moved to Kikuo with his children some time ago. "That is unfortunate. Is there anyone currently suffering from this disease?"

"Of course not," said Hatsune. "Kikuo is careful. You mustn't worry. We know the value of seclusion. The first cough my father gave, we put him to strict bed rest. The same went for Doctor Kagamine. As you can see," he spread his hands, "Kikuo did not live so long in such conditions without relying on caution at all times."

"I see. Where will I be staying?"

Hatsune folded his hands within his cloak. "While we inspect Doctor Kagamine's old residence, you may stay here. We have a guest room. It hasn't been used in a while, but it is perfectly clean."

"Inspect?" Luka asked.

Hatsune shrugged. "As I said, Ms. Megurine, Kikuo relies on caution. We would not like our fair doctor's stay here to be an uncomfortable or an unpleasant one. It is bad luck to stay in a residence with the shadow of death hanging over it. You will be notified of dinner." He stood aside. A servant revealed herself from behind a screen, silent and blonde. "Your maid, Kagamine Rin, will escort you to your room."

Luka furrowed her eyebrows. "Kagamine?"

"The doctor's children work here," said Hatsune with a disarming smile. "He had no objection. He was a close friend of my father's and saw nothing wrong with having his children in the care of the Hatsunes after his death."

Kagamine Rin walked up to Luka. She was short, and very young - Luka estimated no more than fourteen. She bowed, quick and stiff. "Please follow me."

"I will see you," said the lord with a wave, "at dinner."

Luka nodded and followed her maid, who took her through musty corridors and unused drawing rooms, winding a circuitous path around the building. Luka tried to keep track of the way as much as possible, but the house was so winding, its turns so many, she soon gave up. Eventually Rin stopped at a shoji door and pulled it open with a groaning creak.

"Here is your room," said Rin.

It was uninspiring - its size four and a half mats, its furnishings spare, only a futon and an empty cabinet, nicked wood skirting the walls. Luka sniffed the air. It smelt of sour tatami and greasy candles.

"It is," Luka found the word, "lovely."

Rin gave an unladylike snort. Luka glanced at her. Away from Lord Hatsune, Rin had adopted a slouched, sullen pose.

"Better than my room," Rin said. "Same size and I have to share it with my brother."

"Younger or older?"

Rin shook her head. "We're twins. Like them."

Luka furrowed her eyebrows. "Them?"

But Rin had grown still, her eyes widening briefly. "I...it's nothing. I said nothing." She paused before looking at Luka. "You better get ready. The dinner will be starting soon." She glanced up and down Luka's traveling clothes. "By the way, you will have to dress better than that. Lord Hatsune," Rin pronounced the name with distaste, "wants elegance."

"Well, I suppose he is a lord," said Luka. "I have clothes."

Rin gave her a dour look. "If you came up here for five years without clothes, you would be a clodpole. Do you require any more of my assistance?"

"No, that would be all. I can manage myself."

Rin nodded. "If you need me, pull the rope, here," Rin indicated a small alcove, a delicate rope. "Ring it. You won't hear a thing, but it leads to a bell in my room."

"The noise?"

"Kikuo is a village of silence, but Lord Hatsune can do whatever he wants within the privacy of his home. The architecture of this building mimics the mountain nodes."

"I see."

"Be careful," said Rin as she turns to leave.

"Careful?" Of what?

Rin sighed. "Instead of 'be well' when we leave, we villagers say 'be careful'. It's how things are done around here, doctor." Rin said the title with a hint of sarcasm. "Enjoy your stay."

-o-o-o-

Luka did not pack much, and as she unpacked, she thought back on home. What circuitous road led her from the port town of Nagasaki to this icy village located nowhere? The weather changed from clement to hostile the farther she traveled. If it wasn't for her mentor being a friend of the Kagamine doctor since youth, Luka would never have ended up here.

She allowed a small ember of resentment in her heart before snuffing it. It wouldn't be so bad, she hoped. She would have five years to be a practicing doctor, and once she returns to the world below, her mentor promised a high position in his practice. This location of Kikuo, Luka admitted, was not optimal. However, other locations had their own drawbacks. At least here, she had the solitude to study, to read, to take in the cold beauty of the mountain. The cold and silence will prevent her from falling to idleness.

Luka was in the middle of unpacking her books when her door slid open courtesy of a young boy with the same face as Rin's. He looked solemnly at her books, then at her clothes.

"Dinner will be ready soon," he said. "Please change into something suitable for the occasion."

"Where's your sister?" Luka asked, getting up to her feet.

"Helping set the table." The boy bowed. "I am Kagamine Len, at your service. I trust ten minutes is enough time for you to prepare?"

-o-o-o-

Dinner was in a long room, at a long table. There was a festive spirit in the air, Lord Hatsune seated at the head and laughing along with some joke his friend made when Luka entered. Hatsune saw her, smiled, and Luka was led to her seat by a silent and expressionless Len. The table was empty of food.

"It will be coming soon," said Hatsune, seeing the unspoken question in Luka's eyes. "Now, may I introduce you to some of the eminent personages of the village?"

In the minutes that followed, as the food was served, Hatsune fired off a rapid list of names. Seated across from Luka was Utatane Piko, and on her sides were Shion Kaito and Hiyama Kiyoteru. Kaito and Kamui Gakupo were also seated next to Lord Hatsune, and Luka guessed accordingly that they were close friends of his.

"So," said Gakupo with a friendly smile, "how are you finding Kikuo?"

Luka considered. "The cold is...salubrious."

Gakupo laughed. "Damned by faint praise. What was it that did you in? The silence?"

"Kikuo is a merry enough place in the nodes and in homes modeled after the nodes. It is only outside where the policy of silence is enforced," said Kiyoteru. "Now. It is rare for a daughter of a nobleman to study medicine."

"That _is_ strange," Kaito turned a cold glare at Luka. "And, with no experience, she is sent up here to teach me? How are we to know if her power over medicine is sufficient?"

Hatsune smiled his friendly smile and answered for her. "She comes with the highest recommendations from the Matsudas, and you know the reputation they have in medicine. She has studied under them for years, and to add on to that, she is the daughter of an eminent scholar herself. I have every confidence in our new doctor's abilities. She may be young, but I have been assured that she is gifted and capable."

A moth flew drunken circles around a candle flame.

"We shall see," Kaito ate a tofu fried in tempura batter, "if these recommendations are legitimate, or the result of family loyalty."

"Why so suspicious?" Gakupo asked. "You should be happy that such a beautiful female...what was the name...Locusta has not only taken residence in our humble village, but is also giving you lessons in the art of medicine."

"Locusta is incorrect," Piko said. "I believe you were searching for 'Hippocrates'."

Gakupo gave a grandiloquent shrug. "Locusta, Hippocrates, what is the difference? Honestly, Piko, get your head out of books. As long as your words sound pretty enough, no one cares what they mean."

Hatsune, smiling blandly, intervened. "Let's not talk of long-dead Greeks. Might we have some music to cheer our dinner? We want our guest to be impressed."

"Let's!" Gakupo said. "The nightingale's singing is divine."

Luka's curiosity was piqued. She did not expect a village as notorious for its cold and silence as Kikuo to have a bird as delicate and musical as a nightingale. "A nightingale, you say?"

Gakupo smiled. "A very rare and beautiful creature."

Hatsune gave orders to a servant. The moth circled ever closer to the flame.

"The nightingale," said Kiyoteru, "is indeed one of Kikuo's greatest treasures. Her voice is sublime."

"Is the nightingale ever permitted to spread her wings outside?" Kaito asked.

"Unfortunately, my nightingale is of too fragile a condition to leave the household," said Hatsune. "Preserving the delicate beauty of one's voice is a difficult proposition in these cold conditions."

Rin and Len entered the room and bowed simultaneously, with Len straightening up first to speak. "What song does Lord Hatsune wish us to play?"

Hatsune shrugged. "Surprise me."

The twins glanced at each other and walked over to a screen on the right side of the room, Rin stepping lightly around a koto. They slid the screen door open. The room collectively held its breath as a girl glided into the room.

Even Luka was astounded - though she couldn't see much from where she sat, she saw enough. Teal hair done up in long twin-tails, skin as pure as the snow outside. The girl was dressed in fine silks, colorful ribbons that accentuated the color of her hair, the slim elegance of her body. The twins bowed, low, at her sides as the girl walked.

This girl had to be the nightingale spoken of earlier; she could not have been anything else.

"Ah, I see our doctor is speechless," Hatsune said with a smile.

"She bears a family resemblance to you," Luka said.

Hatsune's smile faded. "Yes. It is quite a coincidence."

_We're twins,_ his dimmed smile echoed Rin's words. _Like them._

The girl was speaking to Rin and Len, so quietly Luka could not hear a single word from any of their mouths. Then, with a final nod on all sides, Rin sat herself at the koto and plucked a single note. It echoed mournfully in the room.

Luka stared and stared at the girl called the nightingale as she turned to face the audience. Her face had a delicate glass-spun beauty. She was so still, almost like a statue, that Luka was startled when she saw the girl take a breath.

That startle, however, was nothing compared to when the girl began to sing. The song, her voice, was ephemeral, dreamlike, Luka was speechless. Tea was poured. Luka drank without knowing she was drinking, her eyes and soul caught by the music.

"The nightingale," remarked Gakupo, "is as unobtainable as a woman in a picture, I fear."

The notes wrapped around Luka's mind. The girl sang without looking the slightest bit exerted.

"A picture spied though," Kiyoteru sipped his tea, "a minute crack in the wall of a daimyo's residence."

The music pricked a sharp longing in Luka's heart. Another crest of notes soothed it. She wished she could bottle up the music so that she could take it out and listen to it again, wished she could preserve the beauty of it.

_But the beauty,_ thought Luka as the song wound down to an end, _is in its transience._

"I think," said Hatsune, proud and smug, "that that is enough music for tonight."

The girl nodded and bowed, along with the twins. They began to exit the room.

_Wait,_ Luka wished a wish she could not name. _Please._

And the girl did so, pausing briefly, even turning to survey the room. For a moment, Luka's eyes met hers. For a moment, Luka was utterly lost.

Then, too fast, it passed. The girl's gaze slid off Luka and she left the room, leaving Luka in a fever-daze.

The moth careened into the candle flame and dropped onto the table, dead.

"Poor Icarus," said Piko, finishing his tea. "When will you ever learn?"

-o-o-o-

The rest of the dinner was a fevered blur.

"Our doctor's mind is addled by the nightingale's song, I see," said Lord Hatsune with a knowing smile.

"It _is_ enchanting," said Kaito.

"Poor Kaito! I see he is moonstruck by the nightingale as well," laughed Gakupo.

"She _is,"_ Kaito admitted, "beautiful."

Kiyoteru smiled indulgently. "Beautiful, yes, very. But ultimately, unobtainable. I advise you to rid yourself of any romantic delusions you may have."

Luka's own heart was still beating fast from the glance earlier, and she couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "Why is she unobtainable?"

There was silence, soon enough broken by Kaito. "The good doctor has posed a question, gentlemen. Why _is _the nightingale unobtainable?"

More silence. It was Lord Hatsune who answered, with an amiable smile. "The nightingale, my friend, suffers from a curse."

"A curse? In _this_ day and age?" Kaito snorted.

Hatsune's smile did not dim. "Sometimes, beauty can only be seen and appreciated from afar. Sometimes, it is the best way."

_A curse,_ the doctor thought. _Perhaps a genetic defect? However..._

Kaito stood. "But what makes you think that? Beauty is beauty, no matter where you are."

_...both Lord Hatsune and the nightingale appear undeformed._

"My, he _is_ moonstruck," Gakupo laughed. "Let me tell you, my friend, that there is no better cure for love than marriage."

_The problem, then, must lie elsewhere._

"Gakupo _must,"_ Piko flicked a crumb from his nail, expression bored, "write a book of his astounding epithets."

_A beauty who can only be seen and appreciated from afar,_ Luka recalled.

"Duly noted, and already done," said Gakupo. "Finding a publisher is the difficult part."

_What is it, then, that can only be seen up close that is so repulsive?_

-o-o-o-

She entered her room. The others were still in the long room celebrating with a joy that was bordering on sinister. Luka walked over to the bell rope, pulled. Her tongue was fuzzy and may, she feared, be too loose with drink. She fortified herself accordingly.

Rin arrived in short order, so fast Luka suspected that her room was in fact quite close to her own. "You called, Ms. Megurine?"

Luka looked around the hallway. All clear. There was no Lord Hatsune walking down the corridor, nor was there a Gakupo, Kaito, Piko, Kiyoteru, or any of the others Luka dined and talked with. She beckoned Rin inside.

Rin paused at the periphery of the entrance, eyebrows forming an arch of suspicion. "Before I enter, I must know the purpose of your calling me."

A diplomatic way to word a potentially compromising question. "I would like to consult with you on...a certain matter."

"What is the nature of this matter," Rin asked, "that requires you to ask a servant's help?"

"It is somewhat private, which is why I ask you to step inside."

Rin made a show of looking up and down the corridor. "There is no one here other than us."

Luka gambled. "It...concerns birds."

At that, Rin's eyes narrowed. She stepped inside and slid the door shut before turning to face Luka. "What do you want with her? What business do you have with her?"

"N-none at all," Luka said, taken aback by the intensity of Rin's questioning. "I...I just wanted to talk with her-"

"Talk with her!" Rin barked out a short laugh that rapidly died, becoming instead snapped words. "I'm not an idiot. One doesn't live in Kikuo believing that people want to merely _converse_ with the nightingale."

Luka shook her head. "No, you misunderstand. I just wanted to get to know her-"

"Ah," Rin said. "Here we come to that fatal phrase - 'get to know her'. I know what you want me to do. You want me to bring about a _tryst_." She pronounced the word with relish.

Luka's cheeks heated. "I have no such intentions-"

"The answer, doctor, is never."

"Please," said Luka, "I swear that I have no untoward designs on the her, I simply wished..."

Rin regarded her silently, her eyes cool and distant.

"...I simply wished to know her name," Luka said, defeated.

"Is 'nightingale' not enough?"

"She must have a real name."

Rin sighed. "Doctor, in Kikuo, the word is caution, and the nightingale is caged. All she is to the village is a voice. A symbol. The same goes for you." Rin's voice became melancholy. "It is only her voice and her beauty that draws you."

"No, I..." Luka trailed off. Hard as it was to admit it, she could not exactly deny Rin's words. "How can I get to know her if all I know of her is her face and her voice? It is all you would let me see."

Rin's eyes roved over to the books haphazardly stacked on the mat. "It is all you need to see."

Luka added up the facts. The virtuoso beauty she saw earlier was in possession of, one, a brother who refused to acknowledge her as a twin sister, two, a fellow music-maker who refused to let others see her, and three, a nickname that simultaneously denied her status as a human and elevated her beyond the reach of the common person. A nightingale, rare and prized...but caged.

Why would such a talent be treated like this?

_The nightingale,_ Lord Hatsune had said, _suffers from a curse._

"What is wrong with her?" Luka asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Lord Hatsune said," Luka's mouth was dry; she wished for water, "the nightingale is cursed. Superstition does not become a doctor. What is wrong with her?"

Rin let a silence hang before answering, her words carefully judged and measured. "Superstition is superstition, but if enough people believe in it, it is fact."

"You are avoiding the question."

"And you," Rin countered, "are a nosy clodpole."

'I only wished," _to talk to her, to ask her..._ "to know her name."

Rin sighed and rubbed her face with her hand, looking very tired. "It is Hatsune Miku."

"Hatsune Miku," Luka repeated, holding the name in her mouth. "Hatsune Miku. She lives in this house?"

Rin gave her a look that could wither flowers. _Obviously,_ it said.

Luka pushed. "Can I..."

"Lord Hatsune doesn't like it when people visit her," Rin said, distantly.

"Lord Hatsune," said Luka, surprised at her own boldness, "doesn't have to know."

Rin laughed. "So in the end, you _do_ want me to bring about a tryst."

"That word has implications."

"Yes, and no doubt all of them are correct." The humor left Rin's voice then, and when she next spoke, her words were a shard of ice. "I hate Kikuo."

Luka didn't know what to say, and stayed silent.

"To grow up here," Rin continued, "is to grow up caged. Miku is caged within a cage."

Her first night here, and already Luka was involved in the village tensions. "I see..."

Rin laughed, again. "You've spent less than a day here, don't flatter yourself. You see? What do you see? You don't see anything."

"I see," Luka said, carefully, "that...there is much...trouble here."

"I see," Rin echoed in a mocking falsetto, "that there is much trouble here, _very_ good doctor, you are very observant. Do you have some miracle cure for Kikuo then, imported from Europe or China?"

Luka had only her doctor's kit, nary a cure-all to be seen. Her ears burned.

Rin's voice softened. "But then again, perhaps there are things that only a newcomer can see. An educated newcomer too. Lord Hatsune wants you to train Shion Kaito in medicine in five years. Tell me, is that possible?"

"It...it depends on the willingness of the student," said Luka. "Provided a fertile mind, perhaps some earlier knowledge of biology..."

Rin laughed. "You'll have your work cut out for you then."

Luka frowned. "What makes you think that?"

Rin shrugged. "Servants talk. We are invisible, and so pick up on all sorts of things."

"You cannot be that invisible, you were..." _the former doctor's daughter,_ Luka wanted to say, but the words died in her mouth upon seeing Rin's thoughtful expression.

"Doctor," Rin leaned forward. "I want to propose a, let's say, deal. I will arrange a tryst-"

"It is not," Luka protested, "a tryst."

"Fine, an _assignation_ - better? - with Hatsune Miku, under these conditions."

"An assignation is _hardly_ a better-"

"Shut up," said Rin, "and listen. These conditions. Thirty minutes to talk to her."

It was more than Luka could have hoped for. "Alone?"

"No," said Rin. "That would be suspicious. You will disguise yourself as a servant. One of us - me or Len - will accompany you. You will be serving the nightingale her daily meal."

"Only one meal?" Luka was appalled.

"It is said that birds have small appetites. So. You go in with the food. You come out with the empty tray in thirty minutes. Nothing is amiss in the house's eyes. The only problem..." Rin eyed Luka's pink hair and frowned. "Your hair color is very unusual."

Luka blushed and mumbled something about hereditary genes.

"A head covering of a sort is required," Rin sighed. "So that is the plan, any objections so far?"

"None. But what do you want me to do for you in return?"

Rin smiled. "Simple. I want you to break our cages."

Luka stared.

"I know that you are an eminent, rising doctor from a family of scholars. Your name has power - more power than the Hatsunes, outside of Kikuo. The problem is, of course, that you are _inside_ Kikuo."

"How can I..." Luka stammered. "I don't know enough about the village yet to...to do anything about anything. I can't help with a servants' revolution without knowle-"

Rin shook her head. "I wasn't always a servant, and neither was my brother. We were protected, until our father died. Kikuo does not treat outsiders well once their usefulness has run out."

_Once their usefulness has run out..._a thought crystallized in Luka's brain. Would that happen to her too? But no. She would leave in five years time, she reassured herself. She wouldn't stay forever. Of course not. Besides, didn't Mikuo say that their father willingly gave the twins over to the Hatsune household? From what Luka could see, Rin and Len weren't exactly treated badly. But then again, Luka had spent less than a day here. All she knew was very little.

Rin shrugged and turned. "But I am asking too much out of a newcomer. You can of course educate your promising student Shion Kaito and practice medicine here in Kikuo until your time expires."

Miku's voice flashed in Luka's ears, the knowledge of her entrapment in her mind. Her chance was fading. If not now, then most likely, never. "Wait."

Rin waited.

"I'll...let's make a compromise," said Luka. "If I could see Miku, and...if something truly unjust is happening, I can't stand by and do nothing. I will help you."

Rin scrutinized Luka's face, checking for lies.

"I promise," said Luka.

A long silence, and Rin sighed and turned. "Fine. I don't have much choice, anyways. Miku eats at noon. Be sure to be awake by then. If that is all, then good night."


	2. Chapter 2

Luka awoke to a dark room. There were no windows, no screens to let any light in. Even if there had been, it would be cloudy and gray outside. Luka listened. The household was utterly silent. She got up from her futon. Lord Hatsune had not said anything last night about what she was to do today, and Luka suspected that she wouldn't be teaching Kaito or doing anything doctorly until Doctor Kagamine's residence had finished inspection. In short, her day today was free. Most likely she would be taken on a tour of Kikuo, perhaps introduced to a few more people in the village.

There was also the proposition Rin had given her last night. To serve the nightingale her daily meal...in the sober time of day, Luka went over once more what she had learned. Rin was obviously unhappy as a servant, but who knows how much of what she told was true?

Of course, curses didn't exist. Such supernatural events were anathema to the rational world of physics and natural science. In an old-fashioned village such as this, however, superstitions would still hold sway. Luka would have to adopt the village's words and be careful. It was becoming clear that this village had troubles, and that Luka would have to move cautiously.

That in mind, she rung for Rin. The girl appeared almost immediately, her nose wrinkled slightly as she opened the door.

"You woke up late," she said.

Luka stared at her. "Late? For what?"

Rin shrugged. "Just late. It is noon. If you wish to see Miku, you don't have much time to prepare." She shoved a headdress into Luka's bewildered hands. "Just put this on, change into something that looks bad, and ring for me."

"W-wait," Luka stammered.

"No," said Rin. "We're late enough already."

-o-o-o-

Luka examined Miku's food as she carried it behind Len. There wasn't much - tasteless-looking soup, a bowl of rice, mushy vegetables, a peach, and a very meager amount of what Luka assumed was salt in a wooden bowl, a pitiful attempt to add flavor to the food. Was this truly what Miku lived on? One meal a day...for a noble daughter, food such as this was incredibly meager, in sharp contrast to the repast Luka had last night. How would it have been from Miku's eyes, Luka wondered, to sing and watch her twin brother enjoy food and company, whereas she was doomed to be trapped in a cage?

Her musings were interrupted with Len stopped in front of an unassuming screen. "She lives here," he said, giving Luka a somewhat suspicious glance.

Luka looked around. She was in an unfamiliar area of the house, the corridors completely empty. She could hear nothing but deafening silence. Apparently no one lived in this preserved wing.

"Behind this door?" Luka asked.

Len nodded, his eyes still suspicious. "Don't hurt her."

Hurting her was unthinkable. "I won't."

Len sighed and opened the door, ushering Luka inside. To her surprise, he did not follow her as Rin had said, and Luka found herself alone in a dark room. It was so dark that Luka could barely make out anything.

The thought ran in her mind, absurd, that she had been tricked by the twins - had been too pushy about Miku and was sentenced to spend her time in a dark cell - but Luka dismissed it. It would be illogical and foolish for two servants to lock up an important visitor, a doctor, in a prison cell under their master's nose.

That in mind, Luka called out, "Hello?"

There was silence.

"Um...I brought you food," Luka said, wondering if Miku was even here at all.

More silence. Luka was about to speak again when a voice spoke, soft and delicate, from the darkness. "Put it on the table."

It was too dark to even make out shapes. "I'm sorry, I can't see..."

A soft sigh, then the sound of a light being struck. A lantern on the table illuminated the room, casting soft red shadows. Luka's eyes adjusted. She could not see Miku, only the table and the lantern. Luka placed the tray there. "Where are you?"

"In this room, of course," Miku replied.

"I, um," Luka wondered how ridiculous she was being, "I can't see you."

"You don't need to. I don't need a body. All that's important is my voice."

Luka frowned. "Why? A person is more than a voice."

There was silence. Luka took the lantern from the table and held it aloft, walking forward slowly. The room was bigger than she thought it was - the wall of the opposite end of the room was still shrouded in darkness. The room was also, from what Luka could see, completely devoid of any furniture or decoration other than the low table.

"What are you doing?" asked Miku, her voice located elsewhere in the room this time. Luka spun in her direction, but the lantern illuminated nothing but empty air and a neatly folded futon. Luka had a vision in her mind, ridiculous, of herself walking around the room, of Miku cannily avoiding the lantern's light, the two of them circling around each other, Miku always managing to remain outside of Luka's sight. "Are you trying to find me?" Her voice sounded faintly amused.

"Well...yes," Luka admitted, still walking, sweeping the lantern around the room. "I am."

"What will that accomplish for you? Are you a new servant? I haven't seen you before. Rin and Len didn't tell you about me? I'm dangerous, you know. There is a reason why I am locked up within a cage."

"I'm not a new servant," Luka said. She raised a hand to take off her headdress, revealing her hair. "I'm from outside. I'm a doctor."

"A doctor?" Miku sounded more interested now. "Why are you here in Kikuo, of all places?"

Luka was just circling around the room now, pointlessly. It was difficult to pinpoint the source of Miku's voice in such a large room, and Luka swung the lantern around more to no avail. "After Doctor Kagamine died, I...my mentor was his friend, so as a personal favor..."

"I see."

"Could I please see you?" Luka said. "It's uncomfortable talking to air."

"All you need to have a conversation is a voice," Miku replied. "Bodies get in the way."

Luka bit her lip and lowered her lantern. Miku probably wasn't going to show herself anytime soon, and Luka was tired of walking in circles. "Fine. As you wish."

"I saw you last night," said Miku. "You were sitting with Lord Hatsune and his friends."

"Your performance was..." Luka groped for words. "...was beautiful."

Miku said nothing for a while before speaking. "Why are you here? Rin and Len rarely let people who sit at Lord Hatsune's table see me. Oh, but perhaps it is because you are an outsider too, like them..." Miku fell silent.

"I'm here because I wanted to see you," Luka said. "I...I wanted to talk. With you." Inwardly, Luka cursed herself. She sounded so clumsy, so stupid. Hurriedly she changed the subject. "Earlier, you said that you were dangerous...why is that?"

"I'm cursed," said Miku.

Luka frowned and shook her head. "Curses don't exist."

There was nothing but absolute silence for several long, agonizing moments. Then, from directly behind her, Luka heard Miku's voice, so close she could feel her breath. "They exist here, doctor."

Luka turned around and raised her lantern, illuminating Miku. Luka's heart pounded a staccato beat at the sight of her; she was even more beautiful up close. Her hair was down, cascading down her back. Luka's fingers ached, wanting to touch her. She clutched onto the handle of the lantern tighter instead.

"That is...not possible," said Luka, trying to regain her mind at the unexpected sight of Miku. "Curses are the result of superstition."

Miku's lips twitched in a half-formed smile. "Think what you want to think." She moved over to the table, picked up the peach, and examined it for a few short moments before offering it to Luka. "Would you like a peach?"

"Huh? Oh, no," Luka shook her head. "You weren't provided with much food, so I can't."

Miku laughed, a delicate noise that Luka immediately wished she could bottle up and listen to forever. "Birds have small appetites. Take it." Before Luka could say another word of protest, Miku had placed the peach in Luka's open hand, a soft, palpable weight in her palm.

"No, I can't..." Luka tried to give it back, but Miku had retreated a step back from her so that Luka was offering fruit to the empty air. "You need to eat more."

Miku smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but then the door opened. Luka saw the silhouette of Len.

"Time is up for you, doctor," he said. "Did she hurt you, Miku?"

Miku shook her head. "No, she didn't." Her eyes flicked over to Luka once more before she turned to Len. "Why did you let her talk to me? This has never happened before."

Len looked down. "It was Rin's idea. She said that if Father trusted the family that trusted her, then she should be trustworthy. Did she bother you?"

Luka held her breath as Miku deliberated for what seemed like far too long.

It was an eternity before Miku finally answered. "No. She was interesting to talk to. If the doctor is willing..." Miku let the sentence hang before finishing, "I would like to see her again."

-o-o-o-

"Unbelievable," Len muttered as he took Luka back to her room. "What has gotten into her?"

"What do you mean?" Luka hurried to keep up with his pace.

"She should know how dangerous this is," Len said. "Lord Hatsune would not be happy if any of this was discovered, to say the least. Unbelievable." The two of them reached Luka's room, and Len shut the door behind them. He stood for a while, back to Luka, before speaking. "I don't agree with this."

"What?"

"To break us free from our cages..." Len shook his head. "She trusts too easily, they _both_ trust too easily. It's impossible."

"Why is it impossible?" Luka asked.

Len shot a glare over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. Lord Hatsune controls everything in here. Eyes, ears, everywhere! Who knows if even your room is safe..." he trailed off. "Nothing is safe in Kikuo."

"Look," Luka couldn't take it anymore. "Slow down. You have to explain to me what's happening. Why can't Miku go outside? What's wrong with her? Everyone says she's cursed, but curses don't exist. She looked healthy. I just...I don't understand."

Len laughed. "Of course you wouldn't. You're an outsider."

"I won't understand anything if no one tells me anything."

Len was silent for a few moments before speaking. "The curse isn't anything supernatural. The human mind is a very powerful thing. If it believes something hard enough, it becomes true. An entire village, believing the same thing? It might as well be a fact of life itself. It doesn't matter if Miku is really cursed or not. As long as people think she is, then she is."

Luka frowned and stared at the peach Miku had given her, thinking. That made sense. The human mind was, after all, a powerful thing. But how did it start? Why Miku?

"In Kikuo," Len continued, voice soft, "twins are seen as unlucky. When Rin and I moved here, we were protected by our father, but now that he's gone, things are different."

The pieces were coming together in Luka's mind. If twins were indeed seen as unlucky, then someone 'unlucky' certainly couldn't rule the village like Mikuo. That would explain why Miku was locked away, but then...why parade someone so obviously his twin as a nightingale? It was hard to deny the similarities in Miku and Mikuo's appearance. However, no one seemed to care. Mikuo even denied that they were related, with no one questioning him.

"Anyways," said Len, "Lord Hatsune said that he would like to meet you in the meeting room in an hour. I trust you know your way there?" Before Luka could answer, Len forged on, his cold blue eyes dipping briefly down to the peach in Luka's hands. "I suggest you either eat or dispose of that peach, doctor. There are some foods that only the nightingale may consume. Well then," Len straightened up and turned to leave, "have a good afternoon."

With that, he left, leaving Luka alone with her peach. Luka's stomach growled, and she sighed. She hadn't eaten lunch yet. She walked down the corridors until she reached her spartan room and laid back on her futon. It was dark, but enough of the daytime light made its way into the room to cast beams of light inside.

Luka raised Miku's peach to her eyes, examining its dusting of fuzz. There were faint hollows in the fruit from where Miku had grasped it and Luka placed her own fingers there, raising the fruit to her nose and inhaling its scent. She rolled the peach against her lips and stared up at the ceiling, thinking back on her meeting with Hatsune Miku, wishing that the world would turn backwards so that she would be back to that moment when she saw Miku for the first time, back to that moment when she entered her room masquerading as a servant.

Luka took a nip of the velvety skin of the peach. Juice burst between her teeth, and Luka licked the sweetness, took a bite and held it gently against the roof of her mouth, the tangy juice running down her throat. The household was silent, her room so quiet Luka could hear her own breathing, her own heartbeat.

Meeting Miku had only increased Luka's desire to see her more. Like a struck tuning fork Luka's mind was reverberating with Miku as she swallowed her bite of peach. She was crumpling, burning, freezing.

_If I could do it all again,_ Luka thought, the last of the peach's tart flavor fading from her tongue. _If I could do it all differently._


End file.
